Gemstone Photographer of the Year 2017 is Back!

Every year Gem-A gives its members and students the chance to show off their skills with the camera lens and creative eye for innovation with its gemstone photographer of the year competition. Have you got what it takes to be Gem-A's gemstone photographer of 2017?

Entrants are tasked with capturing the unusual, the striking and the eye-catching beauty of gemstones in the most imaginative and visionary way. Those that submit an entry that captivates our panel of judges will find themselves walking away with a year's free membership to Gem-A, a Photoatalas of Inclusions as well as a sense of pride to diamond standard.

Top: A green, idiomorphic chlorite crystal included in topaz from Brazil. The surface of the pseudohexagonal chlorite crystal shows a strong iridescence. Faceted, rectangular step cut, 9.87 ct. Magnification 45 x, dark field illumination combined with glass fibres illumination. Image by Michael Hügi. Bottom: Mica Crystal in an untreated burmese sapphire, taken with an iPhone 6s through an Eickhorst microscope with dark field, magnification approximately 40x. Image by Sebastian Hansel.

Remember, the entrant who submits the most extraordinary photo will win the title of 'Gem-A's Gemstone Photographer of the Year 2017'!

There are three categories for entry:

The Internal: Including photomicrography, gemscapes and unusual inclusions.

The Humanity in Gems: The life around gemstones, including mining, dealing, gemmologists at work or studying.

Left: Tiffany stone (opalized fluorite). Refelcted light from a fibre optic source. Field of view 9.61mm. Image by Claire Ito. Right: A strong depiction of pleochroitic dumortierite crystals and fragments, arranged in a plane which represents a former crystal surface of the host rock ("phantom"). Image by Michael Hügi.

How to enter:• Members and students can submit one entry only to each of the three competition categories: the internal, the external and the humanity in gems.• Please submit all entries to editor@gem-a.com, along with your membership or student number and category of entry. For each entry, please submit an accompanying caption describing the image itself.• Please submit any entries that are larger than 10mb in size via WeTransfer or Dropbox.• Closing date for entries is Friday 1 September 2017 - Good luck!

Top: Trigons and growth marks on a diamond macle; field of view 2.81mm; imaged using episcopic differential interference contrast (DIC). Image by Ziyin Sun. Bottom: Brazilian aquamarine showing vibrant interference colours and a 'fingerprint' inclusion as viewed parallel to the optic axis using polarised light. Field of View 4.87mm. Image by Nathan Renfro.

Winners:

Member Award and a Student Award will be given with honourable mentions for each category. Winners will be announced at the 2017 Gem-A Conference where we look forward to seeing your creativity behind the camera lens!

Guy Lalous ACAM EG presents us a historical review, and an updated overview, of the Brazilian coloured stone industry. His latest Journal Digest from Gem-A’s Journal of Gemmology (Winter 2017. 35.8) also examines the effects of China’s emergence as a consumer market on Brazil’s gem industry.